Chapter 24: A painful goodbye.
Julian sat looking at the large man sitting across the table from him, he had communicated with President Jones on numerous occasions, he had never had a chance to meet him in person. Although they had subspace communications, New Sateda hadn't developed subspace video technology as yet. President Jones was taller than Rohan, with dark skin, dark hair and his eyes were and incredibly dark brown.
"President Carver it is good to finally meet you in person and you as well General Specialist Lux."
"It's good to meet you as well President Jones and can you please call me Julian?"
"And can you please call me Rohan?" Rohan interjected.
"Well in that case gentlemen, can you please call me Simon?"
Julian was glad that the introductions were over, and they could get down to business, "alright, now that the introductions are out of the way, do you understand why we are here?"
"I understand that the political climate in the Pegasus galaxy is tense at the moment and you require help in negotiating with the Coalition of planets." Simon stated in a matter of fact tone. "Why don't you tell me what has been going on and perhaps you can start by telling me why the President of the Coalition of planets has been arrested."
It was Rohan who launched into an explanation of what had happened to lead to Luchias' arrest, "well the President was caught trying to murder John Sheppard, because he wanted to prevent him from changing the time-line."
"In theory even if John Sheppard went back in time it would only create an alternate reality and this time-line would still exist anyway." Julian supplied.
Julian watched as a look of impatience crossed Simon's face, "so what is it you need earth's help with?"
Julian sat forward in his chair and placed his arms on the desk in front of him, "Well the Coalition of planets, have given us three weeks to return president Tinkle to them, or they will consider it an act of war against them, plus the fact that it has come to light that they have been lying to their citizens for thousands of years and I believe that needs to be addressed."
Simon scratched his head and Julian could see that he was obviously thinking about it, "I will consider you request, but you will need to make a time and a place for the discussions to take place. It is also up to you to make sure that the Coalition of planets are interested in sitting down with representatives of earth."
"I will address them as soon as I get back to New Sateda." Julian said and Rohan nodded his head in agreement.
"Okay, now that's over with, how about a meal and a tour of the city?" Simon suggested standing to his feet.
"That sounds like a fantastic idea to me," Rohan answered for the both of them.
Julian was pleased that the meeting was finally over with, and was happy that Simon was willing to consider helping them. He followed him out of the office with a smile on his face for the first time in a week.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Rodney watched as Carson left the cafeteria, what was his problem. He had only been talking about the inconvenience of being thrown out of the meeting with Samuel. He had really wanted to get his hands on one of the time-ships and to him that was every bit as important as Sheppard getting back to his own time.
Shrugging it off, he stuffed a spoonful of soup in his mouth, it won't do me any good if I became hypoglycaemic now, he thought, before he remembered that he was a hologram and had never suffered from that condition. It still didn't stop him from finding any excuse to eat though.
He sat looking out of the window and found himself wondering what Sheppard was up to, had he finished his meeting, or was he doing something else and if the meeting had finished what was the outcome?
His thoughts were interrupted a few minutes later when Julian, Rohan and Samuel came to sit at the table with him, "hello Dr McKay, I'm sorry that you had to leave the meeting, but you'll be happy to know that we have decided to let John use one on the time-jumpers to head back to his own time." Samuel told him with a smile.
Rodney stared at him and started to whine, "that's great, but why couldn't I be there for you to tell him that?"
"Why is it so important that you were part of the conversation Dr McKay?" Julian asked with interest.
He had absolutely no idea how to answer that question, so he opened his mouth and hoped that something intelligent would come out," umm…." Okay so that wasn't a particularly good answer. So he decided that it was about time he changed the subject. Turning to Samuel he asked, "Earth seems to have some incredibly advanced technology; did you invent it yourselves or did you procure it, or steal it from other civilizations?"
"A lot of the technology which we have implemented has been found in the ancient data base, some of it we have developed ourselves and some of it we have acquired from other civilizations throughout the Milky way Galaxy. We have learned to work together with the peoples of this galaxy for a common purpose. There have been wars over the millennia, but at the moment we live in a galaxy, striving to maintain peace. There are often arguments and disagreements, but we will always try to negotiate, before declaring war." Samuel explained with a smile.
There was no way he was going to sit and listen to this, as he'd heard it all before. "So, is what you've said true, or are you lying like the Coalition of planets?" Rodney asked rudely.
Samuel didn't seem phased by his rudeness, "I assure you that what we are telling you matches up with the history of many worlds in this galaxy. If you would like to talk to them before you leave earth, I can arrange it for you?"
"No, I believe you. I was just interested that's all." Rodney said graciously before turning to Julian, "how did your meeting with the president go?"
"The president has agreed to sit down with the Coalition of planets and the New Satedan empire to help negotiate a suitable outcome for both of us. We just need to get the Coalition to agree to meet with us and earth. Simon has also expressed an interest in being involved in the restoration of Atlantis when the time is right."
"That's great Julian, so what is it you intend to do while we're still on earth?" Rodney asked out of interest.
"I intend to have a tour of the base we're on after lunch and then tomorrow I think I'll go and have a tour of the older parts of the city, since I don't know how long it will be before I have a chance to get back to earth."
Rodney's interest was piqued. "Do you mind if I come with you?"
"Perhaps we can ask John and Carson if they would like to come, and we can all go together," Rohan suggested with a smile.
"I would like that." Rodney stated with a smile, before turning back to his half empty plate of food.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
John wandered through the corridors of the city and was amazed by its beauty and grandeur; it was every bit as beautiful as Atlantis and he found himself becoming homesick for his home and his time.
Samuel had offered to show him around, but he had declined, as right now he wanted to be alone to lament the future that he could never share with Shalite, or the past that could have been if he decided to stay here with Shalite and his friends. He knew that there was only one path for him though and that was the path that led him back to rescuing Teyla and eliminating Michael in his own time.
Eventually he arrived at a set of doors and waved his hand over the door panel, wishing that he could just think it open like he did back home. When he stepped out onto the balcony, he was absolutely blown away by what he saw, this city certainly was as magnificent as Atlantis was and if anyone rivalled what the ancients had built earth certainly came close.
Standing by the railing he could see the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance and he was surprised to see that it looked exactly the same as it had 50,000 years ago; obviously a lot of maintenance had been done on it over the years. The strange thing about it was that there were no cars driving on it, as the sky was filled with vehicles which looked to be flying cars.
What amazed him the most was that he was standing on a floating city, which was sitting right in the centre of San Francisco bay. The sky was a magnificent shade of blue and the sun was glinting off the bay, the towers that surrounded the city were every bit as alluring as the towers of Atlantis. He knew that he could very easily settle into a life here, but then he remembered that he was never meant to be here, he was supposed to be back home fighting the Wraith and rescuing Teyla.
He stood on the balcony for a while longer before he began to walk on a walkway which appeared to surround the city. He circled the city for about half an hour before he came to another balcony and the view was of the city of New San Francisco, which was situated on the shore. The buildings were certainly of an elegant design and they were painted in a varying array bright colour. Flying in between and up above them were many flying cars and crafts of different designs and colours. People walked along elevated walkways as they went about their daily business and he found himself wondering where they were all going and what it was, they did in their day to day lives.
Surely there had to be some plan and purpose to it all because everyone needed some purpose to their lives, and he knew that his was to fight the wraith. He also knew that as dangerous as it was at times if he didn't have that sense of purpose, his life would be mind-numbingly boring.
His contemplations were interrupted when someone came up alongside of him, "It's beautiful isn't it?"
"Yeah it is Carson and I have really enjoyed my time here, but I know that I need to get home as soon as possible, I have been in this time period long enough."
"I've decided that I'm going to stay right here in New San Francisco. I have made an appointment with Simon this afternoon to ask him what I need to do to stay on earth. I might even head back to Scotland in the near future and see if I can find out what happened to my family. Apparently, they have exceptionally good historical records here and I'm sure that I can find someone to help me with my research." Carson explained with his blue eyes sparkling.
John looked at his friend and he felt incredibly happy for him. This was a man who'd had an exceedingly difficult life, at least this version of Carson Beckett had. He definitely deserved some happiness, "I'm so happy for you Carson and I hope you have a long and happy life here on earth. And just think if Earth starts to work with New Sateda on a regular basis, you'll probably get to see Joe, Rodney and Shalite from time to time as well."
"The biggest problem is that you won't be here John and if I haven't said it before, I'm really going to miss you."
All of a sudden John felt uncomfortable and he didn't quite know what to say so he just opened his mouth and hoped that something would come out, "Ummm…I'm going to miss you too Carson."
He looked at his feet not wanting to meet Carson's eyes and before he knew what was happening Carson was pulling him in for a big hug. Eventually he put his arms around his friend as well and for a moment he didn't even feel uncomfortable about it.
He was relieved when Carson pulled away and smiled at him, "have you eaten yet John?"
"No, I came out here to try and clear my head once the meeting had finished, so I guess I'm beginning to feel pretty hungry."
Carson Chuckled, "Come on then, I'll join you. I didn't really get to eat much before, because as soon as Julian and Rohan entered with Samuel, Rodney started to complain and I decided that if I wanted to eat in peace I should wait for another time."
John just rolled his eyes at that comment, "typical Rodney, with all the wonders of this city all he can do is complain."
Carson smiled at him and led the way towards the cafeteria and John was happy to follow. He knew that he didn't have long with this version of Carson, so he had every intention enjoying it.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Carson stood on the balcony in exactly the same position that he had twenty-four hours earlier. The view was as exceptional as it was the day before, and he didn't think that he could ever get tired of looking at it.
The meeting from the day before had gone incredibly well and within five hours of it, he had been granted permission to stay in the city, the President had also given him permission to set up a medical practice. It had also been decided that he may be needed to consult with the members of the Atlantis team, when the team was finally decided upon and sent to work and live in the fabled city. It was also decided that he be on hand for any information that he could provide on Michael.
The Data base that had been recovered from Michael's lab was now in Joe's hands and Carson knew that Joe was a gifted scientist in his own right, so he had every faith in him to be able to find anything that could help the people of the Pegasus galaxy in their future fight against Michael.
John would be coming to say goodbye in a few minutes time and he knew that although he had said his goodbyes to him yesterday that today would be even harder, because although he would see Rodney, Rohan and Julian again in the near future, he would never see John again. The others had been out earlier to wish him well and say their goodbyes for now.
"How are you feeling Carson?" John asked coming up alongside of him.
Carson turned to look at the man, who'd he'd put back together more times than he could count, he was dressed in his black BDU's, his hair was sticking up all over the place and he wore the same crooked grin that he always had. Despite what he had been through over the last ten weeks, John Sheppard still had an air of confidence about him and that was something that he'd always admired in the man.
"I'm doing as well as can be expected, thanks John."
John offered his hand for Carson to shake, "I said everything I wanted to say to you yesterday, so now all I'm going to do is shake your hand and wish you well."
Carson thought he saw moisture in John's eyes, but he didn't want to bring attention to it, so, he took his hand and pulled him in for one last hug. "goodbye John Sheppard, it has been my privilege and honour working with you over the last four years and I know that it was the original Beckett that worked with you, but I still have his thoughts and memories."
"You too Carson and good luck for the future."
Carson pulled away from John and allowed him to walk of the balcony, he watched him until he could no longer see him, before staring back at the city of New San Francisco. John was supposed to be flying a jumper through the city shortly and he had every intention of seeing it.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
John walked away from Carson with his head held high, this was the first of many painful goodbyes. Although he would see a version of Carson again, he would never see this man again and it filled him with sadness. This Carson had been here for him at a difficult time in his life and the other Carson would never understand how close that had made the two of them.
Putting those thoughts to the back of his mind he headed down to the jumper bay where he was going to pick up one of the time-jumpers. The plan was for him to fly it into the hanger bay of the Daedalus and then he would pilot it down to a planet at the edge of the Pegasus galaxy where he would travel through the stargate to a world where he could hide it and then he would travel through to New Sateda on foot. Once he had said his goodbyes, he would then travel through a space gate, before heading back to his own time.
He was startled from his musings when he reached the jumper bay, "How'd it go with, Carson?" Rodney asked, while he was still performing some last-minute checks.
John shrugged his shoulders, "alright I suppose."
"I think he's really going to miss you," Rodney said stating the obvious.
"Yeah, I'm going to miss him too." John shook his head at Rodney, not wanting to get caught up in discussing his emotions, "how's the jumper looking is she ready to go?"
"She sure is, all you need to do is sit down and fly the thing."
"The sooner the better," he said heading towards the pilots seat. "Take a seat Rodney and let's get this bird in the air?"
It wasn't long before he felt the familiar hum of the ancient technology as the craft lifted off from the jumper bay. He checked the HUD to make sure he was heading in the right direction, before looking out of the window to take one last view of the city of New San Francisco. He would never get to see the city like this again, if he ever saw it again, he would be seeing the version from 50,000 years ago. But as long as there were wraith to fight in the Pegasus galaxy, he had no intention of heading back to earth.
Taking one last look at the view below him, he flew the Jumper through the upper atmosphere and headed into space
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Shalite stood in front of the Stargate eager to see John again, it had been eight days since she had seen him last. Joe stood beside her and he appeared to be as excited as she did, but probably for different reasons. Baby John had been left with some of the palace staff, so she could focus solely on John when he came through the gate.
They had been informed that Carson had decided to stay on earth and although that saddened her a little, she knew that she would probably get to see him again at some point. When John left, she would never get to see him again, so when she saw John again, she had every intention of spending as much time as possible with him before he went home.
The gate activated and the wormhole whooshed to life. Shalite watched intently, as Julian followed by Rodney, Rohan and finally John came through the gate.
Apparently, they had left the jumper in a secret location on another planet. When John was ready to go home, he would go back to the planet and retrieve it.
She ran up to John and threw her arms around him, before kissing him on the lips and it was obvious to her that he was surprised by her actions.
"John I am so happy that you're back."
"Umm…It's good to be back."
"When are you planning on leaving, what do you want to do until then, I don't have baby John with me at the moment, so do you want to grab a bite to eat or something?" She asked him, talking at one hundred miles an hour.
He stared at her with a blank look on his face, "umm I was thinking of having a meal, before heading home. Would you like to join me?"
Before she had a chance to reply, Rodney interrupted the conversation, "hi Shalite it's good to see you again and I'm starving, so I'm happy to go for a meal."
"How about I take you to get something to eat Rodney," Rohan suggested, "are you going to join us too Julian?"
"Sound's good to me," Julian replied.
Shalite looked at Rodney and hoped that he would get the idea that she really wanted to be alone with John right now, but he seemed oblivious as usual, "why can't I have lunch with John, this is the last chance I'll get to see him, before he heads back in time."
Rohan grabbed Rodney by the arm and dragged him away, which was a relief to Shalite, "come on John, I'll have lunch sent up to my room and afterwards I'll come to the gate to say goodbye." Shalite suggested grabbing his arm and leading him away.
She finally let go of him when she arrived at her room fifteen minutes later. As soon as they went inside, she directed John to sit at the table across from her, "I have some sandwiches in the fridge, I know that it's not much, but I really wanted to be alone with you for a while."
John was looking around the room and she had a fair idea what he was looking for, "where is John?" He asked.
"He'll be here so you can say goodbye before you leave."
John smiled his crooked grin at her and she knew that was one of the things she was going to miss the most about him, "that's great, now what's to eat."
"Turkey Sandwiches."
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
John stood at the gate ready to go home after nearly eleven weeks in the future. In that time, he'd been taken out of stasis, punched in the face, experimented on, had a cave collapse in on him and been poisoned. He really hoped that when he got back to his time things would go a lot smoother for him, but knowing his luck things will be just as bad if not worse.
He'd enjoyed an hour's lunch with Shalite, before baby John was delivered to her quarters and he was able to spend some time holding him. Shalite had then taken a photo of the three of them together and she had kept one for herself and given him one. "Something to remember us by," she had told him.
Then they had held each other tight for a few minutes and then she had kissed him again and this time he'd kissed back.
Now he was standing by the gate ready to say his last goodbyes and he knew that it was going to be brutal. Julian and Rohan had said goodbye to him before he'd entered the gateroom, so the only people left were the hardest to say goodbye to.
Rodney was the first to approach him, "goodbye Sheppard, good luck in your mission and I'm really going to miss you," he said, as he stepped towards him and pulled him in for a hug.
John hung onto him tightly, Rodney was the first person who he'd seen in the future and he had come to rely on him to a certain extent, "goodbye buddy, I'm going to miss you too." He felt Rodney put something in his pocket before he let go and he suspected that it was the information on where he could find Teyla.
Next Joe stepped forward and pulled him into a hug, "goodbye John, it's been a real pleasure getting to know you over the last ten weeks or so and I'm really going to miss you."
"Take good care of Shalite and her son," John whispered in his ear, before letting go.
Finally Shalite stepped forward and the others stepped back, rather than allowing her to hug him and kiss him again, he placed his hands on her shoulders and bowed his forehead towards her, in the same way that Teyla used to do. He was happy when she reciprocated. Saying goodbye had been hard enough, so the last thing he needed was another kiss and hug from her.
"Goodbye Shalite, I'm going to miss you." He whispered as he pulled away.
"Thankyou for everything that you have done for me John," he watched as her eyes clouded over, "and I'm really sorry if I ever gave you any indication that I thought that Tuart's death was your fault. I do not blame you, the only person I blame is Michael."
"Thank you, Shalite and for what it's worth, I am really sorry about what happened to your husband, he was a good man."
"Goodbye John, "she said, and he could see the tears brimming in her eyes.
He took one last look at her before heading through the wormhole and by the time he found the cave where he had left the jumper, there were tears brimming in his own eyes. He'd never intended to become attached to these people, but they had been a lifeline for him when he had been away from his own adopted family and in doing so, they had become a surrogate family for him.
Climbing into the jumper, he brought up the HUD and headed towards the spacegate in orbit, once he'd gone through, he set the co-ordinates and made the time jump and he really hoped that it worked. If it didn't everything that he'd gone through would have been in vain.
There was a bright blinding flash and then the HUD came up again, indicating that he had travelled 50,000 years back in time. Looking around he was relieved that he had only travelled in time and not space. Sighing with relief he headed towards the Spacegate, where he was to land, hide the jumper and head through a Stargate to his home and family on Atlantis ,and then he would do whatever it took to bring Teyla home again.
John walked through the stargate headed for Atlantis, at last he was home and very soon he would be able to get of with his mission, to save Teyla and irradicate Michael.
He exited the blue puddle to find several marines pointing their guns at him, Sam and Rodney came down to meet him with surprised looks on their faces.
Sam was the first to speak, "John?"
"Colonel, it worked," John explained waving his hands around.
"John what happened?" Sam asked still looking confused.
"How much time has gone past since I went missing?" John asked still looking around the gate room.
"You've been missing for twelve days." Sam answered.
"Twelve days, twelve days, she wouldn't have had her baby yet," he muttered, before looking at Sam. "I know this sounds kind of crazy but we're on the clock here."
"John what are you talking about?" Sam asked and it was obvious to John that she was becoming frustrated with him.
"I know where Teyla is."
He had no idea what would happen next or how long it would be until he would be able to search for Teyla, but at least he was home and that was a good place to start.
TBC…
One chapter to go.